This tutorial will explain how to use Curios to safely send your Advanced Reader Copies (ARC) out to any readers.

Typically authors send ARCs to their trusted lists of readers for feedback. Curios has several safety measures in place to help ensure that ARCs are only accessed by the readers you intend.

To send ARCs via Curios

Step 1: Log in

Go to studio.curios.com and log in with your email address, then enter the code provided.

Step 2: Start a new product

Click + Publish / Add New Product in the left-hand menu.

Step 3: Select Book

Select Book from the available options.

Step 4: Series (optional)

We are going to skip the Series step for this tutorial, but if this book is part of an existing series you can select the series on this page.

Step 5: Add book details

Next, fill out the book's title, description, and genre information.

Step 6: Choose your formats

Next, select which formats you will be selling for this book. Since this is an ARC, it's most likely going to be an EPUB or an audiobook that you're sending these readers. We'll use an ebook in this tutorial, but the instructions will be the same for any digital content you're sending.

Note: You can always add more formats later — see the Adding formats to an existing book tutorial.

Step 7: Fill out the format details

Now we'll fill out the format details, going through each item one at a time. Please pay special attention to the pricing and the permissions portions of this section.

Step 7a: Upload the cover image

Upload the cover image for this format.

Step 7b: Set the pricing to Free (Claim)

In the Listing Type dropdown, select Free (Claim).

Step 7c: Upload the digital content

Upload the digital content for this format. For this example we'll upload the EPUB file, but if this were an audiobook this is where you'd upload your MP3 files.

Once uploaded, any files will show up here. You can edit the file name in line, and if you have multiple files you can rearrange them so they're ordered correctly (important for a multi-file audiobook).

Because Curios gives you full transparency of data, you'll be able to find out if the link was shared and if any other people accessed the files.

Step 7d: Preview files

Next you can upload preview files if you'd like. Since this is an ARC, you can skip this step.

Note: Curios automatically generates a preview file for any EPUB.

Step 7e: Set your collaborators

Set your collaborators. If you have a co-author, or if this is an audiobook, you can specify the narrator here.

Step 7f: Permissions

This is a critical step for setting up an ARC. In the permissions section, toggle off the Public setting.

This section should now say Private (unlisted).

This keeps the item off the Curios marketplace — only readers with a specific link will be able to access this book.

Step 7g: Review and publish

Click Review to open a page where you can review everything you just uploaded.

Check that the listing type is set to Free (Claim) and that Permissions say Private.

Clicking Publish automatically publishes this item and generates a link you can share with your ARC readers. Clicking Save Draft saves all the information so you can edit or fill in anything missing.

Step 8: Get the link

After you click Publish, you'll see a screen that displays a link to your book. This is the link you can share with your ARC team so they can access the book for free.

Note: Since we set this book up as private, only people with this link will be able to view or access the book.

Step 9: Monitor results

In the reporting section, click the Claims sub-tab. Here you can see the email addresses of anyone who has accessed this book. This is a good way to know which members of your ARC team are actually participating.

If you see an email here that you don't recognize, the link may have been shared. Please reach out to Curios and our team can remove that email's access to the book.

Step 10: Analytics

If your ARC team is reading (ebook) or listening (audiobook) to the book in the Curios app, you can see the progress, start rates, and completion rates for this book. This can help you understand, from a data level, how well the book was received by your ARC team.

As always, if you have any questions or run into issues, please reach out to [email protected] anytime.

Thank you!